


meet the parent(s)

by bothsexuals



Series: planted in my mind [5]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: M/M, aka meet the parents, aka the best episode of tv ever, based on schitt's creek 5x11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:07:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26026183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bothsexuals/pseuds/bothsexuals
Summary: Abed throws Troy a suprise party and invites his mom, but things get a little messy when he realizes she hadn't known about their relationship.Aka: a rewrite of one of my favorite episodes of Schitt's Creek, "Meet The Parents".
Relationships: Annie Edison & Abed Nadir, Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Series: planted in my mind [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1802440
Comments: 13
Kudos: 113





	meet the parent(s)

**Author's Note:**

> Bonjour. Watch Schitt's Creek. Seriously, do it. It's amazing.
> 
> Enjoy!

Abed pointedly looked at the group gathered in his living room. Jeff and Britta, who were still oblivious to his plans, Frankie, who had gotten him a whole bar to use through some mysterious connections of hers, and Annie, who had been fundamental in the party preparation process. Troy was at a dance class, which gave Abed the perfect occasion to uncover his plan to his friends. 

"So, as we all know, Troy has always wanted a surprise party," he started. 

"We don't _all_ know that," Jeff cut in, earning an elbow in the stomach from Annie. 

Abed simply ignored him. "Since he went full gay man who doesn't need a religion that judges him, he now celebrates his birthday-" everyone nodded "-so tonight, I will be throwing him a surprise party." 

"Abed, I hate to break it to you, but these things take time to plan," Britta cut in. 

"Everything is ready," Abed retorted, "I just didn't tell you two because you can't keep a secret for your life and you would've Britta'd everything." 

Britta gasped, affronted. Jeff shrugged, as if to say _fair enough_. 

"Anyways, there's an extra surprise," Abed excitedly continued, and Annie couldn't hold back a giddy smile and a clap. "Troy has been talking to his mom a lot lately." He smiled proudly. "So have I. So I've invited her. She'll be checking into the same hotel as you at eleven." He pointed at Jeff and Britta. "Do _not_ be in the lobby then." 

Britta and Jeff looked at each other. they would _definitely_ be in the lobby then. 

  


***

  


Abed had planned everything perfectly. He had written the day's schedule everywhere: on his day planner, on his notebook, on his phone. He even considered writing it on his arm- ultimately he decided that it wasn't worth the discomfort of ink on skin, plus Troy might see it if Abed decided to, you know, give him _another_ kind of birthday gift, so he kept it to those three. 

Of course, the universe just couldn't resist the urge to throw a wrench in his plans, which is likely how Troy's mom ended up at the hotel fifteen minutes earlier than planned. 

"Hello," she approached the reception desk with a smile, "I have a reservation. Cynthia Barnes." Yes, she'd kept her ex-husband's name. Easier than changing everything back, you know? 

"One moment, ma'am," the smiley receptionist said, and started typing away at their computer. 

" _Cynthia Barnes?!_ " 

She turned around to see an over-enthusiastic blonde woman staring at her, and beside her a bored generic looking white man. 

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" she politely asked. 

"No, but I know _you_ ," she replied. 

"Reel it in, Britta," the man beside her muttered. 

Huh, Cynthia thought, so that was her weird ass name. 

"We're friends of Troy," the man explained, "I'm Jeff, she's Britta." 

"Good friends," Britta clarified, " _great_ friends." 

"Pleasure to meet you," she said (but was it, really? These people were kinda weird. But she'd play nice for her boy's sake.) "Are you here for his party?" They nodded. "It was very sweet of Abed to plan that." 

"Yeah," Jeff agreed with a smile (okay, maybe they weren't so bad after all), "I have to admit, I have been a little skeptical of these two." 

"He's not as progressive as the rest of us," Britta cut in with a suggestive roll of her eyes. Cynthia was growing more confused by the second. 

"That's not what I mean," Jeff said, glaring at her, "I just mean that you know, mixing friendship and romance, that can get pretty tricky." 

Cynthia's eyes widened. A friendship and _what now_? 

"I'm sorry, what?" 

"You were aware they were friends before, right?" Britta asked, looking a little confused herself. 

"Yeah, I knew _that_ part," she replied. 

"Did I… say something?" Jeff asked, eyes darting from her to Britta and back again. 

"Ma'am," the receptionist blessedly cut in, "your room key." 

Cynthia hastily grabbed it. "Thank you," she mumbled, then to her son's weird friends added, "I gotta go get- yeah," and hurriedly left. 

  


***

  


"Put that there," Abed instructed the annoyed waiter. "No." He grabbed the flowers himself and repositioned them. Once satisfied, he smiled to himself and glanced back at the grumbling waiter. "I'm sorry," he said, "I just want everything to be perfect for the love of my life. I'll give you big tips for how annoying I'm being." He proved his point by fishing a twenty dollar bill from his pocket and shoving it into their hand. 

"That's actually kinda cute," the waiter shrugged, "plus, I like money."

"Fair enough," Abed replied. His phone rang and he raised a finger to excuse himself and stepped away from the waiter. 

"Hello?" 

"Abed," Britta's alarmed voice rang out, causing him to wince, "we may have fucked up. Jeff specifically." 

"What? What did you do?!" he frantically asked. 

" _Jeff,_ " Britta clarified, "and uh- Troy's mom knows you two are together, right?" 

He frowned. "What? Of course she knows." Annie had drifted to him at some point and he alarmedly grabbed her arm. "Does she?" 

She took the phone from his ear and pressed on the speaker button, while Abed's mouth fell open. 

"I've never- I don't think I've ever said it to her outright. And I don't know if Troy has." 

Annie took his hand and started to rub soothing circles on his skin, while his brain jumped through hoops to try and make sense of the situation. 

"Britta, what did you tell her?" she asked. 

"Nothing bad!" she defensively exclaimed, "she just seemed… taken aback… when Jeff mentioned… romance." 

"Romance?!" Abed yelped. 

Annie lovingly shushed him and squeezed his hand. "We'll call you back," she said harshly, and abruptly ended the call in the middle of Britta's rambling. 

"Beddy-boy?" Bill softly called, walking up to him with Frankie. 

"What happened?" Frankie asked. 

"I uh- I don't- Troy's mom-" the room was going out of focus. He could barely tell Frankie and Annie apart. He heard a high pitched sound- was something broken? Was the bar- the speakers- something-

Annie started stroking his cheek, and only then did he realize the sound was coming from him. 

He tried to focus on her. It didn't work. He closed his eyes and counted. Breathe in- _one, two, three, four._ Hold- _one, two, three, four._ Breathe out- _one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight._

He opened his eyes again. 

"Breathe," Annie was saying. 

"I'm trying," he managed to croak out. 

She counted with him until his breath went back to almost-normal. 

"I thought she knew," he said then, "I thought she knew. What, does she- does she think we're just _friends_?!" 

"I mean, yeah," Bill mumbled, as Frankie said, "Possibly," and Annie glared at them both. 

"What are we gonna do, honey?" she sweetly asked instead. 

Abed tried really hard not to make that high-pitched sound again. 

  


***

  


Abed struggled a bit to open the door to the apartment as he carried a bouquet of flowers in one hand, pizza in the other. 

"Hi, baby," a freshly showered Troy immediately greeted him, standing up to give him a welcome home kiss. It was one of Abed's favourite types of kisses. (He had about a thousand of those.) 

"Happy birthday," Abed said yet again, leaning in for a second kiss. He pulled back and handed Troy the flowers. "Flowers for you," he needlessly explained, "pizza is our lunch." 

"Best boyfriend ever," Troy hummed, punctuating it with another kiss. "How's Bill?" 

"Thriving," Abed replied, "but more importantly, how’s my birthday boy? Did you get any calls from, you know, friends or family?" He really hoped Troy wouldn't notice how tense his casual voice sounded. 

“My mom called, but she was out of town for some reason so she couldn’t stay long,” Troy replied. 

“Did you tell her about dinner?” Abed giddily asked, placing his hands on Troy’s shoulder and gently massaging them the way he knew he liked. 

“Uh, she was actually just pulling up to the hotel so she had to jump off, but…”

“You know, uh- speaking of your mom, I’ve actually been piecing together that I’ve never really talked to her in like- a romantic setting.” 

Well, that was a weird way to put it. 

Troy frowned. “You wanna be romantic with my mom?!”

Yeah, exactly. 

“No! No, I mean about us.” Troy still looked confused, so, wincing, he forced the words out. “I mean, she knows about me, right?” 

“Of course she knows about you, what do you mean?” Troy replied in a small voice, escaping from Abed’s grip. 

Great, so she didn’t know. 

“Like she-” his voice was breaking, but he forced himself to finish the sentence anyways “-she knows about _us_ , right?” 

“Um…” 

Troy was avoiding his gaze. She didn’t know. Troy hadn’t told her- and he obviously had his reasons to, ‘cause he wouldn’t just not tell her- and now Britta or Jeff had and it was Abed’s fault, it was _his_ fault if Troy lost her again. 

He swallowed roughly, biting the inside of his cheek. “Okay,” he mumbled quietly, “okay.” 

“Abed, I-” Troy looked up, and there were tears in his eyes. Fuck. “I’ve been wanting to tell her about us, but I was waiting to do it in person and then I didn’t go home for a long time and then I was feeling so comfortable here with you-” 

“Yeah,” Abed cut in. His legs felt like they were about to give out, so he sat on the couch and ran his hands through his hair nervously. “Yeah, I don’t know why I assumed-” he took a deep breath “-so all this time, your mom thought she was just- just talking to your friend?” 

Troy nodded slowly. 

“Okay.”

Troy sat down beside him, hiding his face in his hands, and Abed put a tentative hand on his back and rubbed soothing circles until he looked up.

“Abed, I know my mom loves me, but I just- I can’t shake this fear that this will change everything we’ve worked so hard to rebuild.” 

Abed nodded over and over again, humming softly in understanding. 

“But I’ll- I’ll deal with it as soon as I see her next, okay? I promise.”

Abed sighed and wound his arms around Troy, who immediately melted into the touch with a relieved exhale. 

“Baby,” he whispered, “what you’re dealing with is very personal, and something that should only be done on your terms, okay?” 

Troy nodded, then jumped back up and out of Abed’s arms and exclaimed, “I just- I hate this! I feel like she doesn’t know me, but I can’t-” he glanced at Abed, who was nodding sadly and biting his lip, and his face fell. “You’re upset,” he muttered, “I would be too.” 

“Yeah, uh, it’s not about that,” Abed said. He shifted slightly, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. “So, you know how you’ve always wanted a surprise party?” 

Troy chuckled. “Babe, I don’t think this is how surprise parties work.” 

“Yeah, I know, it’s just-” he sighed “-part of the surprise was inviting your mom… here…”

Troy’s eyes widened. “What?” 

“I now realize that was a big mistake,” Abed quickly said, “I should’ve talked to you.” He sighed once more and grabbed Troy’s hand, intently gazing into his eyes. “I could just be your best friend tonight, if that will help.” 

Troy swiftly shook his head. “No. No, babe, I can’t ask you to do that. I owe it to us to tell her. I want her to know.” 

Abed drew him into his arms once again and kissed his cheek once, twice, three times for good measure. “I love you,” he whispered, “I love you so much.” 

“I love you too,” Troy mumbled, burying his face in Abed’s chest, “I love you too.” 

  


***

  


Abed took a deep breath as he stood in front of Cynthia Barnes' hotel room. The receptionist had been weirdly understanding when he'd shown up carrying a huge gift basket, explained the situation and asked to know her room number, and he was very thankful for it.

He was also very, very nervous. Things could go very badly, very quickly. She might want to stop talking to Troy again, and Troy had been so happy they'd gotten closer. He couldn't be the reason for his losing her again, he just couldn't. Not before he even got the chance to tell her himself. 

He took another deep breath and knocked. Cynthia Barnes opened the door- Abed had never seen her in real life before, they’d only talked on the phone, but the woman in front of him had a smile just like Troy’s, which made what had to come next even harder. 

“Mrs. Barnes, hello,” he said, “I’m Abed Nadir.” He extended the basket towards her and she took it, gesturing for him to come inside and then shutting the door behind him. “I just wanted to come here and apologize for a…” he paused, looking for the adequate words. “A very unfortunate miscommunication.” Good enough. 

Her brows narrowed. “So you’re not in a relationship with my son?” 

“Oh, no, I very much am,” he readily replied, “I meant more… how you found out.” 

She sighed. “Was it something I did?” 

His heart dropped. 

“What?”

“Do you think if I’d done things differently, that he’d still be-” 

Tears stung his eyes as he cut in, “I know this news can come as a shock, but Troy is still the same person he was! And it’s his _birthday_ , and he-” 

“Abed,” Cynthia interrupted him, “I’m not upset about Troy being gay.” 

Abed finally exhaled. 

“No?”

“No.”

His eyes closed as he sighed and fell back against the wall in relief. 

“Oh, thank god. For a second I thought this was gonna get very dark.” 

Cynthia opened her mouth, but a knock on the door cut her off. Abed pointed to it, then at her in a silent question, and she nodded. Abed opened the door to reveal Jeff and Britta standing there. 

"Hello, Abed!" Britta immediately exclaimed, letting herself in, "How are you? Happy I hope!" She glanced at Cynthia. "That's all that really matters, isn't it?" 

"It's okay," Abed cut in with a relieved sigh, "she's okay with Troy being gay." 

"Good," Jeff said with a glare at Britta, "then no one has to shame anyone on how the information came out." 

Britta raised her eyebrows and looked at Abed. 

"You can shame him a little bit," he conceded. 

"So what do I do now?" Cynthia asked, "Not go to the party? I don't wanna make my boy uncomfortable." 

"No," Abed interjected, "no, Troy actually- he's planning on coming out to you tonight. So I think we should just-" 

"Keep him in the closet 'till then!" Britta cut in. 

Abed frowned, pointing at her. "That was a bad way to put it, but yeah." 

Cynthia nodded. "Okay." 

"Okay," Abed repeated. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Okay. Okay, cool. Cool, cool, cool." 

Jeff's hand was on his arm suddenly. "Hey, buddy. It's okay. Breathe." 

"I'm breathing," he nervously nodded, "I'm breathing." 

"Hardly," Britta scoffed, and Jeff elbowed her. 

"Hey," Cynthia said, and Abed opened his eyes. She was smiling like Troy again. It made him breathe a little easier. 

"Hey," he replied in a small voice. 

"It's okay, Abed." She grabbed his hand, and he didn't retract it. The touch felt oddly familiar. "I love Troy," she said soothingly, "this doesn't change anything." 

"I just wanna be good to him," he mumbled, "I love him, I wanna be good." 

"You're good," she said with a bright chuckle, "you're really good. You're perfect for him." 

His heart jumped. 

"I am?" 

Her smile grew bigger, just the way Troy's did. 

"You are." 

Abed bit the inside of his cheek, feeling an urge he'd rarely felt around anyone not from the study group or his small circle of LA friends.

"Can I- can I hug you?" he stammered. 

"Oh, sweetie, of course," Cynthia crooned, winding her arms around him. 

Abed melted into it easily. It felt oddly familiar. 

  


***

  


Everything was perfect. Everyone was in the bar, including Troy's mom, ready to accept him with open arms and an open heart. Abed was repeating this to himself over and over, taking slow, steady breaths. 

"He's here!" Annie exclaimed.

"He's here," Abed repeated, "everyone, places! We got lights?" Bill nodded. "Okay, remember it's 'Surprise.' 'Happy birthday' was too wordy and we couldn’t nail it in rehearsal." 

The door opened and Troy walked in, welcomed by a loud chorus of "Surprise!", and he immediately opened his mouth in faux surprise. 

"Oh my god, Abed," he said in a tone too high pitched to be natural, "I thought we were just having a chill dinner!"

"Well, I lied," Abed mumbled, welcoming Troy into his arms and resisting every urge to kiss him. The look in Troy's eyes told him he was fighting the same battle. 

"Happy birthday!" Annie exclaimed, hugging him next. 

"Annie!" He spun her around, then looked at everyone once he put her down. "Everyone's here! Mom! You said you were out of town!" 

"Well, I am," Cynthia cheekily pointed out, pulling Troy into a hug. She gave him a fond smile when they pulled away and glanced at Abed, who was trying to be subtle about his inspection of the exchange. 

"You've got a really wonderful friend here, honey," she said. 

"I'm just really glad you could make it," Abed said, his voice still a little strained. "I'll just- I'll let you guys catch up," he muttered, and started to turn away. 

"Mom, why don't you grab a booth?" Troy said, "I just gotta talk to Abed for a second." Cynthia nodded and did as he said, and Abed turned back towards him. 

Troy let his cool façade drop as soon as Abed's eyes were on him, and let his sheer nervousness show. 

"What if she doesn't react the way I want her to?" he asked in a small voice. 

Abed grabbed his shoulders, gripping them with all the strength of his love for Troy. 

"Then I will be here," he whispered, "and we will get through it. Together." 

Troy nodded. "Okay." 

Abed tried to give him a reassuring smile. He really hoped it worked. 

"I love you," Troy said, both his gaze and his tone mind-blowingly intense. 

"I love you," Abed said, meaning it with every fiber of his being and giving Troy's shoulders a little squeeze in lieu of a kiss. 

He let go and Troy nodded again, before making his way to the booth his mom was sitting in. 

Abed turned around and Annie was there, smiling at him. She nodded reassuringly and let out a long exhale, gesturing for him to do the same. He did. He could breathe a little easier now. 

  


***

  


Troy took a deep breath as he sat in front of his mom. 

"Hey, ma," he mumbled, "thanks for coming." 

"I wouldn't miss it," she said with a smile, "I just love you so much, Troy." 

He smiled. "I love you too, ma. And uh- I guess… there's something I've been meaning to tell you." 

"You can tell me anything," his mom said a little too quickly. 

He sighed. "I just- I need a moment. It doesn't really come easily." He nervously tapped his fingers on the table. "So, you know Abed-" 

"He seems like a really great- uh, friend." 

Okay, that was weird. 

"He is. He's also a- a really great _boyfriend_. He's- we're together. Romantically. And I've never been happier in my life." He sighed and dared to look her in the eyes. "I just hope you can accept that." 

His mom grabbed his hand on the table. "Your happiness is all that matters to me, Troy." She smiled. "And I like him." 

He hummed with a smile of his own. "So do I." He sighed in relief. “Oh, man. I didn’t know how I was gonna tell you.”

“Well,” his mom said in a sugary sweet voice, “I’m just glad you did. Happy birthday, my sweet boy.” 

He glanced towards the bar counter, where Abed and their friends were sitting, and saw everyone was staring at them. They all quickly turned away when he caught them- but Abed turned back after a second and met Troy’s eyes with a loving smile. “Yeah,” Troy breathed, “it really is.” 

  


***

  


The party went by without a hitch after that. Everybody had a grand old time; Cynthia and Abed hit it off easily, bonded by their unwavering love for Troy, Britta got a little too drunk, a little too early, and Frankie offered to take her back to the hotel, Annie and Bill took a thousand pictures of the birthday boy with his mom and boyfriend. 

After a few hours everyone had left, except for Annie, who’d offered to be the one to close up, and Troy and Abed, who were holding each other and swaying to a soft song playing through the speakers- _Brighter Than Sunshine_ , Troy thought it was called, and it was absolutely perfect.

“Baby,” he mumbled, “I know you were nervous about the surprise being blown, but this was one of the best nights of my life.” He felt Abed sigh in relief, and raised his head from where it was resting on Abed’s chest to look at him. “So how long has she known?” he asked. 

“I’m sorry?” 

“My mom, how long has she known about us?” 

Abed tried to play dumb. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he mumbled. 

“Babe, I know my mom,” Troy chuckled, “she’s not a good actress. She knew about us, right?”

Abed sighed. “Okay, Jeff and Britta might have told her, but they thought she knew! And it was just- it was just a very messy day, and I was just trying to detangle things and make everything okay.” 

Troy hummed. “Yeah, well, you made everything okay.” 

Behind them, Annie cleared her throat and they turned to look at her, not letting go of each other for even a second. “Hey, I hate to step on the moment here, but I do have to close up in five.” 

Abed groaned, “Right.” 

“Okay,” Troy chuckled. He wound his arms around Abed, placing a swift kiss to the side of his neck as he rested his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder. 

_Boyfriend_. 

That wasn’t enough anymore, was it? 

He should be something more. He should be everything. 

Good thing Annie was in town for a couple more days, he thought. He’d need her help visiting jewellery stores.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you liked this, please let me know through kudos and comments. Find me on the twitter @jaguarkipo and the tumblr at bensschwartz.


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